Victor Kelleher

A fascinating post-post-apocolyptic YA book (before YA was even a thing) set in Sydney, Australia. "Taronga" follows the journey of Ben (a young man who has a psychic connections to animals) as he attempts to find his place in the new world. Ben eventually makes his way to the old Taronga Park Zoo, where his connection with Ellie, an aboriginal girl, and the animals, give him hope in his otherwise bleak existence.

I really enjoyed the book and loved the retro eighties feel - the cover of my book is a "Ken Done" illustration, and if you took the path taken by Ben from the Blue Mountains, through Windsor and into Sydney these days, there'd be very little bush and loads of outer suburban housing - ain't progress grand!… (més)

A tale for young adults in which a young man, Tom Roland, experiences vivid dreams which seem to have effects on his waking existence. His whole town is embroiled in his dream-quest. Increasingly the waking world and the dream intersect. The book balances the dream world and the waking world, each hovering on the edge of each other. It is well-written and tense. It reminded me of Alan Garner's work, where ancient pagan entities threaten to intrude into a world similar to but not exactly like ours.… (més)

I enjoyed Victor Kelleher's childrens' fiction and so picked up this collection of adult short stories. It is divided into two main sections: The Traveller, stories of two continents and Micky Darlin'. The Traveller stories were mostly set in Africa, with a few in Australia or New Zealand. The tales were about melancholy rootlessness, disconnection, isolation and race relations. The Micky Darlin' set was a coming-of-age sequence set in England in a poor Irish neighbourhood after World War 2. They detail Micky's squabbling extended family; their fights with each other and God.

I found the Traveller tales interesting for their African content but quite bleak. The Micky Darlin' tales were a bit hard to get into (not an exciting genre for me) but were well-written (and short) enough to engage me. Overall the writing was good but I prefer Kelleher's more imaginative stories.… (més)